2025: A Year of Building, Learning, and Staying Focused
##FOMO of AI
I had one thing in mind when I started 2025: become a 10x developer using AI. I did not know if it would make me better, but I really wanted to know how AI could help me be productive. One day, I decided to pay for Cursor. After a weekend of usage, I noticed that my productivity was not what I was expecting. I was expecting AI to do the job, but the quality of code was terrible. Vibe coding is not something I would suggest for someone starting in the programming world. These tools are good for experimenting, but not much else.
I moved to Windsurf, then Zed, and I came to this conclusion: AI just cannot replace me. But I can use it to be productive. I stuck with the web version of Gemini before moving to OpenCode. I chose OpenCode because of Dax. I was betting on Dax because I knew they would find a way to ship something good. I am still using OpenCode to be productive.
If you feel like AI will replace you, that means you are doing robotic work. Everybody yelling on the internet saying AI will replace you is still working with developers. I will change careers the day Replit, Lovable, v0 from Vercel, and Claude fire all the software engineers in their companies. Until then, I will keep learning, improving, and shipping using this tool called AI.
##Indie Hacker Adventure
The first thing I learned while building is that you need to be versatile. As an indie hacker, you need to get your hands in many things at the same time. If you do not find a way to get what you have built into the hands of people, how will they know you exist in this world full of noise? The second thing is enthusiasm. Unless you are building a rocket that draws attention on every launch, there is less chance your side project will naturally attract people. You need to be excited to share what you are working on online. Even Elon shares what they are working on, though I have not yet found a way to do that correctly myself.
I kept asking myself: if I do not try, how will I ever know what works? That pushed me to keep building and experimenting.
I tried https://vibename.app, https://rulehub.devalade.me, https://vawu.chat, https://flexfitway.com, and https://zecreator.com. I learned a lot from all of them. It was not a waste of time, just small building blocks that will help me where I am heading. Changing priorities does not mean I quit. Building is a marathon, not a sprint. If the first try does not work, I will go for the next one. I can make it work because I discovered that my thinking is always solution oriented. There is a problem, and we need to fix it.
What keeps me going is vision. I discovered that vision is that thing that moves you toward something you cannot touch but can see. It is like trusting your gut in the first place. The excitement that comes from achieving the vision is insane. Giving myself permission to go for it has been boosting my confidence.
##Feeding My Mind
I read five books this year: Show Your Work, Rework, Outwitting the Devil, The Magic of Thinking Big, System Design Interview, and Web Scalability for Startups Engineers. The Magic of Thinking Big is the book I read most often. I did not read everything in it. I would open it and read five pages or more at a time. The technical books are very good, and I recommend them if you have not read them.
I listen to the Lex Fridman Podcast, The Diary Of A CEO Podcast, and The Rework Podcast. I have been a big fan of Elon Musk since 2019, and I watch his podcasts with Lex Fridman. The same goes for DHH.
One thing I love about Elon, despite the fact that he is doing big things, is his way of handling noise. Let us say he does not even acknowledge noise. He is focused. He is 100% signal.
That is the reason I started repeating to myself: "I maintain the pressure." The pressure is my way of maintaining 100% signal in my head.
##Staying Healthy
I stopped going to the gym in September because I noticed I was putting too much attention into it. I was spending six days at the gym, and thinking about what I should cook or eat tired my brain. Staying in shape is important, but going to the gym is not something that should occupy my brain all day long. My sleep was also suffering. So I decided to stop going to the gym and reduce my meals to two or one per day. If I eat once today, I go for two times the next day. I noticed my sleep improved. I will get back to the gym next year with three sessions per week.
##Good Things
We did good things this year. I was invited to two events as a panelist. I helped Cisse with the FigmaToCode Challenge, and seeing people who finished the challenges get a job or an internship has been an absolute joy. We are pushing Trivule forward with the community. There is a version available with a VS Code extension.
##2026
We continue the journey.